I know that there are a myriad of people who have wrote powerful thoughts about this day.  I know that I will never come close to expressing the immensity of the cross.  But this is what I was thinking through today.

How is this GOOD Friday?  How is it good that an innocent man was executed?  How in any way is it good that the man who was lauded as the Messiah is now punished as the most vile of criminals?  What crime did he commit? Is it a crime to love, to serve, to touch people's lives?

He is only guilty of doing one thing, obeying the Father.  So, the innocent bears the weight of the condemned.  The perfect lamb defiles himself with the atrocities of our sins.  Perfection was beaten, tortured and slaughtered in heinous fashion.  What's so good about that?

The good is in the last breath he breathed.  Good is in the cry, "It is finished".  Good is in his love, enough to follow the Father's will and make a way for us to find forgiveness before a Holy God.  Good is found in His ultimate demonstration of love by giving his life for those who were his enemies, who in no way could ever earn or deserve this gift.  Good is who He is,


And as I began to read through the gospels, It hit me again that Jesus and his disciples were celebrating Passover at the Last Supper and spurred these thoughts.

A long time ago in Egypt a lamb was slaughtered and his blood was placed on the doorframe.  That blood provided salvation from death.  That lamb became known as the passover lamb.  And then came the day when another spotless lamb was led to slaughter.  It was His blood that saved all the people from death.  He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.

 During Sunday School I was teaching the kids about the Israelites building the temple and how we now have a church to worship God.  This is Jack's depiction of the church with Moses looking out the window.

I prayed for them again tonight.  I prayed that the truth of God's Word would continue to become alive to them.  I pray that they will know God's love for them and love Him with all their heart.  I know I fail often in living out these truths for them but I pray that God's grace will shine through me and that I will learn from them more about my Father's love for me.

"Give me a Jesus who meets me in the rushing, crashing waters of my questions.  Let me stand precariously close to the dark and menacing skies of doubt, so I can hear the fierce and gentle loving voice of my Jesus who drowns out my fears and stands just beyond my questions with open arms." -Mike Yaconelli from Dangerous Wonder

When I was young, I had a special place I would go to escape.  I would run to a pond behind our house past a farmer's field.  The fences around the field were worn and broken down so it was easy to slip through them to get to the pond.

This picture of one of those fences always reminds me of my little pond up on the hill.  It was there that I found my sanctuary to wrestle with whatever was battling in my heart.  It was my safe place to ask the questions I was afraid to ask any place else.  It was were I would meet with Jesus.

I have made some goals for myself since attending the Writer's Conference.  One was to make a space to write.  Another was to get something submitted.  In my overly ambitious mind this was all going to happen in the matter of three months.  It has taken much longer.  If I was only doing that, I would have gotten it all done.  However, I don't always remember to factor in life.  I am a wife, a mom, a daughter and grand daughter, and a pastor's wife.

Through all of this I have learned a few things.  I have learned that my goals will take longer than I anticipate.  I have learned to stick with it anyways.  I have learned that I need to create certain habits in my life to accomplish my goals and then stick with it but don't beat myself up when life gets in the way for awhile.

I am grateful for God's patience with me.  I am thankful for opportunities to learn and grow.  I am blessed by God to do what I am passionate about.